Year No. ringed 
1905 . 15 . 
1906 . 68 . 
1907 . 65 . 
1908 . 65 . 
1909 . 58 . 
1910 . 47 . 
1911 . 16 . 
WOODCOCK SHOOTING 
When and where shot 
1 shot at Baronscourt. 
4 ,, ,, 1 at Harrow, 1 in Cornwall ; all with 1906 ring. 
2 at Baronscourt, with 1905 ring. 
2 at ,, and 1 at Ardourie, Inverness, 1908 ring. 
1 in Go. Tyrone, with 1906 ring. 
2 with 1907 ring, 3 with 1908, and 4 with 1909 ; all at Baronscourt. 
2 with 1907 ring, 3 with 1908, and 2 with 1910 ; ,, ,, 
2 with 1905 ring, 1 with 1908, and 1 with 1911 ; ,, ,, 
also 1 Go. Antrim, and 1 Co. Tyrone, both with 1909 rings. 
Total woodcocks ringed . . . 334 
Shot at Baronscourt .... 29 
Shot elsewhere 6 
“ A great many woodcocks are seen flying about here in June and 
July, but towards the end of the latter month they begin to leave the place, 
and during the month of August and September very few are to be seen. 
The first flight generally reaches us about the second week in November. 
“ Woodcocks, as a rule, are very fond of a shrub, at the edge of which 
they are able to sit perfectly concealed, and yet in a position to spring 
into instant flight if disturbed; laurels permit of this, but rhododendrons 
are too close and matted. In rough weather we And the birds amongst the 
laurels, but in open and mild weather they like the heather fringing the 
edge of the coverts. The following is a list of woodcocks shot on this estate 
since 1905 ; 
Year 
Number shot 
Year 
Number shot 
1905 
. . 432 
1909 
. . 403 
1906 
. . 385 
1910 
. . 402 
1907 
1908 
. . 360 
. . 418 
1911 
. . 345 
“ Some years ago I had a tame woodcock, it was picked up when about 
ten days old. I put it in a ‘foster-mother,’ which was kept at a com- 
fortable temperature, and therein it did very well. For the first few days 
it had to be fed by hand, and worms comprised its chief diet, but it soon 
began to pick them up on its own account, and from that moment its 
progress was speedy. Worms being scarce one day, it was offered bread 
and milk, this it became very fond of, and appeared to prefer it to all 
other food. This woodcock was kept in the open, and it had the liberty of 
two runs connected with the ‘ foster-mother.* From the bottom of one of 
these runs several inches of soil were removed, and the space filled in 
with loose sand ; this run was its favourite resort, as worms were buried, 
and it used to bore for them. A small dish of water was kept beside it, 
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